WaiterOne: The Complete Guide

System Architecture Overview

Understanding how WaiterOne connects is the first step. The system is incredibly scalable, allowing you to add KDS screens, self-service kiosks, and digital signage all on the same local network.

1. Hardware & Network Setup

For WaiterOne to operate perfectly, your local network must be stable. The main iPad acts as the "Hub," while printers and staff iPhones act as the "Spokes."

1. Connect to Wi-Fi: Ensure your main iPad and all remote devices are connected to the exact same local Wi-Fi network. You can also connect your main iPad directly via Ethernet if you use a dongle or a supported printer with network tethering.
2. Connect Printers: Plug your receipt, kitchen, and bar printers directly into your Wi-Fi router using an Ethernet cable. You can also connect compatible printers via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
3. Connect the Cash Drawer: Plug your cash drawer into the receipt printer’s DK (Drawer Kick) port.
4. Download the Apps: Install WaiterOne on your main iPad and WaiterOne Remote on your staff devices from the App Store.

2. Setting Up Your Back Office (Main iPad)

To access the main menu in WaiterOne, simply click on the logo in the lower-left corner of the app. Depending on your WaiterOne version and your user rights, different menu items will be available or activated.

All major configuration happens directly on your main iPad under the Settings or Data tabs.

Adding Staff & Managers

1. Select the Data menu, then on the left tabs select Users. If not visible, scroll the tabs up.
2. Tap the + icon to create a new profile.
3. Type in the staff member's name.
4. Tap the Code field (four dots) to assign a secure 4-digit PIN. You can also view the automatic PIN created by clicking and holding down the eye icon.

User Permissions & Roles

You can customize what each user is allowed to do by toggling specific security settings on their profile:

Time Clock (Work In / Work Out)

WaiterOne can track staff hours seamlessly. If an employee logs in for the first time that day, or logs out to end their shift, the system will present a Work In / Work Out toggle screen. This ensures accurate time tracking right from the initial PIN entry screen.

Connecting Printers

WaiterOne supports unlimited printers with no extra fees.

By default, 3 virtual printers are automatically configured (e.g., for the bar, for the kitchen, for the receipt). This doesn't mean you must have 3 physical printers; rather, it allows for different types of tickets and settings to be printed. When using different virtual printers, their own numbering sequence will be kept.

1. Go to Data > Printers.
2. Tap Add or select an existing virtual printer.
3. Change the Type Printer accordingly.
4. Change the Host to connect your printer:
   • Ethernet/Wi-Fi: Enter the IP address of the printer.
   • Bluetooth: Enter BT:
   • Direct iPad Connection: Enter USB:

KDS (Kitchen Display System): A KDS can replace or complement kitchen and bar printers. Orders routed to a preparation station appear as digital tickets, and staff can use Prepare, Service, and Close instead of handling paper tickets.

Pro-Tip for Kitchen Printers: Need extra space at the top of your kitchen dockets so they can hang properly on a docket rail? Navigate to Data > Printers, select your kitchen printer, and add <br><br><br> to the ticket header text.

3. Building Your Menu

Products are organized by Pages and positioned on a grid.

Understanding the hierarchy is key: in WaiterOne, we have Pages, Groups, and Buttons. Buttons belong to groups, and buttons are placed on pages. Crucially, buttons can inherit many settings directly from the group they belong to. For example, if a group is configured to print to the kitchen printer, any new button assigned to that group will automatically print to the kitchen as well.

1. Create a Page: Set up a page like "Starters", "Mains", or "Drinks".
2. Add Products: Enter the item name and assign it a row and column coordinate.

   Alternative Methods: You can also add products quickly by double-clicking on an empty space on a Page in the main POS screen, or by managing them directly from the WaiterOne online dashboard (online back office).

3. Set Pricing: Input your standard price. You can utilize up to 5 price levels (e.g., Standard, Happy Hour, Takeaway).

   Misc & Custom Items: Toggle Open Price and Open Text if you want to create a generic button that prompts the staff to manually enter a custom name and price on the fly.

4. Add Modifiers: Toggle the Modifier switch for add-ons (e.g., "Rare", "No Ice"). Modifiers must be attached to a standard product to be sold.
5. Jump to Page: You can create buttons that jump to other pages to better organize your POS system. WaiterOne also remembers which page you came from, so you can configure buttons to automatically jump back after being selected (e.g., automatically returning to the alcoholic drinks page after choosing a soft drink mixer).

CSV Import: Product CSV files can use commas or semicolons. To import a CSV, send the file to the iPad and open it with WaiterOne. To create the correct CSV layout, first export a sample file from Settings > Data > Export. During import, WaiterOne can create missing groups and pages; when a row has a group but no page, the group name is used as the page name. After the import, you can choose to add page jump and return buttons on the imported pages.

Organizing Buttons & Courses

Drag & Drop Organization: In the main POS sales screen, you don't need to manually calculate row and column numbers to rearrange your layout. Simply press and hold a button, then drag it to its new location on the grid.

Kitchen Courses: Courses are a fantastic way to sort ordered products on your kitchen dockets. If you assign items to a "Course" (like Entrée or Main Dish) in the back office, WaiterOne will group them neatly under those specific headings on the printed kitchen ticket, regardless of what order the waitstaff tapped them in! Note: Ensure the Group PLU flag is enabled in your kitchen printer settings for courses to print correctly.

4. Connecting WaiterOne Remote

To allow your staff to take orders on the floor, sync their iPhones or iPads (e.g., an iPad mini) to the main iPad.

1. On the main iPad, go to Settings > WaiterOne Remote and turn on the server.
2. Open the WaiterOne Remote app on the staff device.
3. Go to Settings > Server within the remote app. The Host field should be filled in automatically, as the remote connects automatically.
4. Tap Download. The menu buttons will instantly sync.

Troubleshooting Tips:

- If the download fails, open your main iPad’s iOS Settings, scroll down to WaiterOne, and ensure the Local Network switch is turned ON.
- Set the WaiterOne location permission to Always on the main iPad. That way, the WaiterOne server keeps on running, even in the background.
- WaiterOne also uses the restaurant location for WeatherKit reports, reservations, planning, and license information. If needed, adjust it in Settings > Reservations > Restaurant location.

5. Creating Tables & Floorplans

Before you can take orders, you need to tell WaiterOne how your venue is laid out. There are two ways to do this: the "old school" way and the "new school" way. WaiterOne allows you to use either method or even mix both approaches.

The Old School Way (List/Number Based)

If you prefer speed and simplicity over visual layouts, you can just use table numbers.

1. In the POS screen, click on the total in the upper right corner, and select and add table/clients as they come.
2. Click on the Tables button and select a table. Tables are alphabetically ordered, and you can also work with floorplans from here.

The New School Way (Visual Floorplan)

For a modern, visual representation of your restaurant, you can design a custom floorplan.

1. Go to Data > Floorplans.
2. Tap Add to create a new room or area (e.g., "Main Dining", "Patio").
3. Add your tables, defining their shape (round or square) and seating capacity. You can also add tables by tapping Edit and double-clicking on the exact spot where you want the new table to appear.
4. Drag and drop the tables into position to match your venue's real-life layout.
5. In the POS screen, staff can now tap the Floorplan tab to visually select tables.

Ad-Hoc Tables & Clients

You can also create temporary ad-hoc tables or clients on the fly (for example, for a walk-in or a quick bar tab). These ad-hoc tables will automatically disappear from the system after the order is closed out and paid.

Table-Specific Settings

Tables aren't just for numbering. When setting up tables, you can configure unique rules for specific areas of your venue:

Reservations & Waitlist

Use the Reservations screen to plan upcoming guests by table and time. The booking form shows the expected end time while you adjust the duration, so staff can see immediately how long the table is blocked.

For walk-ins, add guests to the waitlist with their party size, phone number, quote minutes, and notes. Waitlist entries can be sorted by when they were added, quote time left, or guest count. The quote pill shows whether a guest still has time left or is overdue.

Staff can edit a waitlist entry if the guest changes their phone number, comes back later, or cancels. When a table is ready, tap Seat or drag the waitlist entry into the reservation book to create a reservation at the chosen table and time.

Reservations and waitlist entries can be linked to an existing Client record, or staff can create a new Client directly from the booking details. When a linked guest is seated and paid, the ticket is added to the Client profile so the team can see visits, total spend, average ticket, last visit, and recent tickets from the Clients screen.

Guest messaging: If the iPad is configured to send messages, WaiterOne can prepare a waitlist confirmation in the Messages composer when a phone number is available. Staff can review the text before sending; delivery uses the device's normal Messages/iMessage/SMS setup.

Planning

Use Settings > Planning to open the staff planning tools. Managers can create open shifts, assign waiters, copy schedules, use day templates, publish the visible day, and approve shift pool requests.

Staff users see their own planning view with their shifts, available open shifts, and their pending requests. They can claim open shifts, offer their own shifts to the pool, request trades, and cancel their own pending requests. Editing the schedule itself remains a manager function.

6. Daily Operations: Front of House

Taking an Order

1. Tap the Tables or Floorplan screen.
2. Select the active table.
3. Tap your pages and select the ordered items.
4. Select any required modifiers when prompted.
5. You will use the three visible main action buttons at the bottom of the screen to process the transaction:
   • Order: Tap this to send the items to their respective preparation stations (e.g., drinks to the bar printer, food to the kitchen printer). The table remains open.
   • Bill: When the guests are ready to leave, tap this to print their check/receipt. The table remains open until payment is processed.
   • Pay: Tap this when you are taking payment.

   Hidden Hold: The Hold button is hidden at the OBP buttons (Order, Bill and Pay). Swipe the OBP buttons to the right to reveal Hold, then tap Hold to temporarily park the current ticket, so you can return to it later or serve another table/client first.

   Ticket screen: Swipe up on the ticket screen to crunch the ticket and combine the same products into one line.

   Special Functions: Swipe Special Functions to the right to show more special functions. Swipe it to the left to show the numeric keyboard.

   Note: The Order and Bill buttons are only selectable if a table or client has been selected. If no table/client is selected (e.g., for a quick counter service order), you can omit Order and Bill entirely and skip straight to pressing Pay.

Processing Payments

1. Select the table that is ready to leave.
2. Tap the Pay button.
3. Choose the payment method (Cash, Card, Gift Voucher).
4. The cash drawer will trigger, the receipt will print, and the table will reset and close for the next guests.

7. End of Day, Insights & Reporting

Closing out your day is just as important as opening it.

8. The WaiterOne Ecosystem

WaiterOne is more than just a POS tablet; it’s a fully integrated suite of applications designed to modernize every touchpoint of your venue.